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Monday, November 26, 2012

This semester I have been surprised by the literacy levels of my students. They are able to draw the knowledge they used the previous year, relate it to, adapt it, and build on the knowledge with little prompting. They haves struggled with learning how to infer meaning from text but have slowly begun to pick subtle cues from texts they read and relate them to their own lives. However, they are not able to add adequate analysis to their persuasive essays. They have trouble voicing their own opinions and supporting their opinions with evidence. This is the first year that they are stating their own opinions about topics and they are tentative and shy about voicing their opinions.

Journal--What will your literacy-rich classroom look like?

In the future--Sept. 30, 2013

In Sept 30, 2013, I hope to be running my own classroom for the first time on my own. My literacy rich classroom looks like a colorful library with a variety of graphic novels, fiction books, non-fiction books, newspapers, and important current events that effect student lives around the room.

My students are engaged in a variety of self-driven tasks such as group discussion, projects that draw on visual literacy as well as written and reading literacy, current events, relating their own lives to books they've read, etc.
They are reading a variety of fiction and non-fiction books and articles. Following Common Core standards, they will be reading more non-fiction than fiction. However, this will better prepare them for careers and/or college experiences.

Diary...December 15, 2013

My literacy rich classroom looks much like it did when the school year started, however, student work has been added to the walls to showcase exemplary student work.

My students are engaged in formal debates that they have orchestrated and created about controversial topics. Rules have been decided upon by the students themselves as a consensus. They have come up with their own penalties if any team or student should veer from the agreed upon rules. The audience decides by tally marks who wins each debate.

They are reading non-fiction articles and beginning to improve the analysis they use in their essays. They are discussing current event topics and relating real-life events in their own lives to themes and events that happen in the fiction and non-fiction pieces they read.

Diary...May 30, 2014

My literacy rich classroom looks like...students who are eager to learn but also eager to move on to new topics in the upcoming year. They are excited to use what they learned and incorporate it into future endeavors.

My students are engaged in a final project that links a variety of texts over the course of the semester or year using a common theme.

They are capable of independent learning in reading and writing. They can link texts they read to events that have happened in either their personal lives or to society around them.

Demographic Information: The class is made up of 30 Caucasian
students, 10 Latino students, and 3 Asian students. There are 22 males and 21 females. The class is made up of 8 RFEP students, 2
IEP students, and 1 504 student.

Developmental Needs: Students
are eager to learn and listen to instructions.
They are a mix of visual and auditory learners with a few kinesthetic
learners. The students have a variety of
interests ranging from skateboarding, cheerleading, drawing, writing, and
various sports.

Individual
Student Information and Differentiation Strategies

English Language Learners

Student A—Student A is a 16 year old advanced English
learner. He has been in the school
district since 7th grade. He
was re-designated as RFEP in 10th grade.
He had a rough 9th grade year due family issues at home and
went to the continuation high school for his 10th grade year where
he could make up missed work. He is well
liked in the class and a team player.
When meeting new students, he introduces himself and shakes each
student’s hand. Student A needs minor
differentiation and sits in the front of the class to make it easier for him to
take notes. His grades this year
indicate above average to excellent grades.

Student B—Student B is a 16 year old 11th grader and an
English learner. Both her parents are
working professionals and she is originally from Mexico, living in the US for
about a year and half. She visits her
grandparents every summer in Mexico. Student
B is a kind, sweet, somewhat socially shy girl that is well-liked among her
peers. She works well in small
groups. She is literate in Spanish and
enjoys reading Spanish literature. Her
grades in Mexico indicate above average scores.
Student B is given Spanish-English, English-Spanish dictionary to help
her translate words she doesn’t know.
Work group work, she is paired with at least on other Spanish speaker to
help her translate her ideas. During
group work, progress monitoring would be the teacher walking around and
listening in on the ideas they offer and commenting, offering suggestions as
needed.

Student C—Student C is a 16 year old 11th grader and a
re-designated English learner. He is in
Avid and has been since 9th grade.
He is taking two honors classes, chemistry and geometry. He plans on taking an AP class next
year. He requires no differentiation and
is a go to for assisting other students who may require extra assistance.

Students with Special Needs

Student D—Student D is a 16 year old 11th grader and
has an IEP. He reads at grade level with
80% accuracy. He is allotted more time
on tests at the testing center at his discretion. He rarely uses this opportunity. He is also given prime sitting in the front
of the classroom to allow him an ideal vantage point of the board. Student D enjoys skateboarding and reading
sports magazines. He also has a girlfriend that he likes to spend time with and
helps him study at times. He has trouble
maintaining passing grades in English and math classes. He is currently failing the course due to a
poor unit test grade and missing work. Student
D sits in the front of the class to make it easier for him to take notes. He works well in groups and is more likely to
offer his opinions in the groups.
Progress monitoring during group work is the same as Student B, teacher
walks around and listens while students discuss. Student D also does exceptionally well on
vocabulary tests.

Student E—Student E is a 16 year old 11th grader and
has an IEP, as well as has been re-designated RFEP. He is quiet and tends to keep to himself
rather than interact with other students.
He likes punk music. He does well in small groups. Student E sits close to the front of the
board to allow him to better see. He is
allotted to take major tests at the testing center at his discretion. He has yet to take a test at the testing
center. His grades for the semester have
been average. Detailed notes, such as
grammar, are printed out for him.

3.UNIT RATIONALE

This unit is designed to address student
needs in improving their writing skills and address requirements for the SAT
test. The unit seeks implement skills
and rules that will guide students into bettering their writing and attain a
higher score on the SAT’s as well as give them valuable tools to increasing their
success in university.

Enduring
Understanding

The main goal for students is to understand
how to write a persuasive essay. The
main parts of the essay are broken into groups to ease understanding of the
essay and make writing a step by step process.
Since the implementation of a writing section on the SAT’s, this unit is
designed to assist students in creating an essay that is laid out in a logical
manner that addresses the student’s point of view as well as politely
addressing those of the opposition.

Essential
Questions

How can students’ best write a persuasive
essay? How can students’ share their
ideas politely without insulting the opposition or becoming angry? How can students address the opposition to
their arguments in polite manner? Why is
it important for them to be able to address the opposition?

4.UNIT OBJECTIVES

After
students follow the steps for writing a persuasive essay, they will be able to
write a coherent, organized essay that helps them be better prepared for the
SAT’s and college.

Students
will be evaluated two different ways.
They will have their anticipating the opposition paragraphs
peer-reviewed as well as the full the essay peer-reviewed later in the
week. They will turn in a final draft of
the essay which I will grade based on a rubric they have been given.

Communication
of Expectations: Sample is shown during
power point slide of a sample ATO.

Day 2:

Name
of Assessment: ATO Peer-Review

Formality: Informal

Type: Formative

Purpose: To allow students to see other student’s
ATO’s and compare how well they did compared to their peers.

Implementation
Method: Students are given numbers to
write instead of their names on their papers to keep completely anonymous. Papers are collected and then passed
back. Students are graded on a specific
rubric and must give three reasons using the rubric why they gave the paper
that score.

Day 3:

Name
of Assessment: Body Paragraph Monitoring

Formality: Informal

Type:
Formative-Progress Monitoring

Purpose: To allow students to write their body
paragraphs in class and ask questions of the teacher if they have any.

Implementation
Method: Teacher walks around while
students write and monitors their work.
They ask questions if they need help and the teacher checks how well
they understand the assignment by checking their writing.

Day 5:

Name
of Assessment: Final Essay Peer-Review

Formality: Informal

Type: Peer-Review

Purpose: Students are given the opportunity to
peer-review their classmates and compare their own writing to see what they did
well and what they need to work on.

Implementation
Method: Students are given numbers to write instead of their names on their
papers to keep completely anonymous.
Papers are collected and then passed back. Students are graded on a specific rubric and
must give three reasons using the rubric why they gave the paper that
score. Students have the option of
having the teacher score the paper if they don’t like the score students gave
them.

Communication
of Expectations:

Day 5:

Name
of Assessment: Peer-review grading

Formality: Formal

Type: Summative

Purpose: Students are graded on how the peer-review
and follow the direction that were stated in the beginning of the assignment.

Implementation
Method: Students are graded based on how
well they follow directions at the beginning of the peer-review assignment.

6.STEPS OF INSTRUCTION

Day 1:

Objectives—

Cognitive: After picking a controversial
topic, students will write a “T” chart that organizes their ideas and opponents
ideas in an easily understandable graphic organizer.

Cognitive:
After looking at their graphic organizer, students will write an ATO that
states the oppositions points in a respectful and polite manner.

Standards—

Writing
Standards, 11-12 Grade, Text Types and Purposes:

1.
Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or
texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

a. Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s),
establish the significance of the claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from
alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that logically
sequences claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

Student
Activities—

Pick a controversial issue and create a “T” chart with
three points for your view and three points opposing your view. Students write their thesis statements. Students write their ATO’s, anticipating the
opposition, paragraphs based on the three opposing points from their “T”
charts. They are given a form to follow.

Assessment—

Formative: monitor informally by going around while the
students write their thesis statements and monitor informally by going around while
students write their ATO’s. Finish ATO’s
for homework if they don’t finish in class.

Lesson
Plans

Instructional Strategies

A.Anticipatory
Set/Into—Teacher uses a power point with slides to show the directions for the
assignment and projects them on the board.
The power point goes into detail what an ATO is, it’s purpose, and
examples of an ATO. Students are shown
how to make a graphic organizer to write down their thoughts. They are then given directions on what to do
next. Step 1: write down a controversial
topic (no abortion, death penalty, gay rights, legalization of drugs). Step 2: create a “T”-chart with three
supporting ideas on the left side and three opposing ideas on the other side. Step 3: circle the two ideas that are most
different on the left-hand side. Step 4:
write a thesis statement reiterating the student’s viewpoint. Step 5: student’s write a ATO using the three
opposing ideas on the right hand side using a format shown in the power point
slide. (15 min)

B.Instruction/Through—Teacher
instructs the students to begin with step 1: write down a controversial topic,
followed by step 2: create a “T”-chart with three supporting ideas and 3
opposing ideas on opposite sides, and then to circle the two ideas that are
most different. (5min)

C.Guided
Practice/Through—Teacher instructs students to write their thesis statement and
share the statement with a neighbor. (5
min)

D.Independent
Practice/Through—Teacher then instructs students to begin writing their ATO’s
using the format in the power point slide.
They work quietly while working.
(15 min)

E.Closure—Teacher
asks students to write their number and not their name on the top right corner
and hand in their ATO’s. They will be
peer-reviewed the next day.

Student Activities

A.Anticipatory
Set/Into—Students follow along as the teacher uses a power point with slides to
show the directions for the assignment and projects them on the board. The power point goes into detail what an ATO
is, it’s purpose, and examples of an ATO.
Students are shown how to make a graphic organizer to write down their
thoughts. They are then given directions
on what to do next. Step 1: write down a
controversial topic (no abortion, death penalty, gay rights, legalization of
drugs). Step 2: create a “T”-chart with
three supporting ideas on the left side and three opposing ideas on the other
side. Step 3: circle the two ideas that
are most different on the left-hand side.
Step 4: write a thesis statement reiterating the student’s
viewpoint. Step 5: student’s write a ATO
using the three opposing ideas on the right hand side using a format shown in
the power point slide. (15 min)

B.Instruction/Through—Students
begin with step 1: write down a controversial topic, followed by step 2: create
a “T”-chart with three supporting ideas and 3 opposing ideas on opposite sides,
and then to circle the two ideas that are most different. (5min)

C.Guided
Practice/Through—Students write their thesis statement and share the statement
with a neighbor. (5 min)

D.Independent
Practice/Through—Students begin writing their ATO’s using the format in the
power point slide. They work quietly
while working. (15 min)

E.Closure—Students
write their number and not their name on the top right corner and hand in their
ATO’s. They will be peer-reviewed the next
day

Day 2

Objectives—

Cognitive: After writing their ATO, students will
peer-review a classmates ATO to provide better understanding of their own work.

Standards—

Writing Standards, 11-12 Grade, Production and
Distribution of Writing:

5.
Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing,
rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most
significant for a specific purpose and audience.

Student
Activities—

Peer-review of students ATO’s in
class. Students exchange their ATO’s
with two students in the class and follow a rubric that has been provided. They must list three examples using the
rubric in complete sentences to justify their score.

Assessment—

Formative and Summative: Teacher walks around and observes what
comments the students are writing on the essays. Students are graded on how they peer-review.

Lesson
Plan

Instructional strategies

A.Anticipatory
Set/Into—Teacher displays a power point presentation detailing the directions
for the assignment on the white board.
They are also given a rubric to use while peer-reviewing. Grade sheets are placed at the front of the
room. The grade sheet is broken into quadrants.
The top left quadrant includes a space to fill out the period number of
the author as well as the author’s writing number on the left hand side. The top right quadrant includes a place for
the reviewer to fill in their own period number and writing number. The bottom left quadrant is where reviewers
write three points from the rubric that proves the score the reviewer’s
score. The bottom right quadrant is
where the reviewer writes a note to the author explaining what they have done
well and what they need to improve on.
Teacher instructs the students to pick up a grade sheet and a student’s
paper that is not theirs or a friend’s to grade. Step 1: Write the author's writing number and
reviewer’s writing number in the appropriate spaces. Step 2:
Read the paper, underline the thesis statement, and make sure the ATO
follows the guidelines of the previous days template. Step 3: Using the rubric, score the
paper. Write three reasons using the
rubric why the paper received that score.
Step 4: Write a note to the
author explaining what they did well and what they need to work on. Step 5:
Stand up, wait for another student to stand-up, and switch papers with
them. Step 6: Repeat the process one
more time with the new paper.

B.Instruction/Through—Teacher
goes through all the directions with the students to insure they understand the
directions.

C.Guided
practice/Through— Teacher instructs the students to make sure that they are
polite when leaving comments and to not leave any comments such as “bad
writing” or “your handwriting sucks”.

D.Independent
Practice/Through—Teacher instructs students to come up and pick up a grade
sheet and a paper. Using the rubric,
they begin peer-grading their classmates ATO’s.
All students switch papers once so they each grade two papers and each
paper has two grades.

E.Closure—The
teacher collects the papers and grades the ATO’s using the peer-grades. If the two grades are one away from each
other, the two numbers are added together and averaged. Ten points is added to the averaged number
and that’s the score the student receives on their ATO.

Student Activities

A.Anticipatory
Set/Into—Students listen and follow along as the teacher displays a power point
presentation detailing the directions for the assignment on the white
board. They are also given a rubric to
use while peer-reviewing. Grade sheets
are placed at the front of the room. The grade sheet is broken into
quadrants. The top left quadrant
includes a space to fill out the period number of the author as well as the
author’s writing number on the left hand side.
The top right quadrant includes a place for the reviewer to fill in
their own period number and writing number.
The bottom left quadrant is where reviewers write three points from the
rubric that proves the score the reviewer’s score. The bottom right quadrant is where the
reviewer writes a note to the author explaining what they have done well and
what they need to improve on. Teacher
instructs the students to pick up a grade sheet and a student’s paper that is
not theirs or a friend’s to grade. Step
1: Write the author's writing number and reviewer’s writing number in the
appropriate spaces. Step 2: Read the paper, underline the thesis
statement, and make sure the ATO follows the guidelines of the previous days template. Step 3: Using the rubric, score the
paper. Write three reasons using the
rubric why the paper received that score.
Step 4: Write a note to the
author explaining what they did well and what they need to work on. Step 5:
Stand up, wait for another student to stand-up, and switch papers with
them. Step 6: Repeat the process one
more time with the new paper.

B.Instruction/Through—Students
follow along as the teacher goes through all the directions with the students
to insure they understand.

C.Guided
practice/Through—Students listen as the teacher instructs the students to make
sure that they are polite when leaving comments and to not leave any comments
such as “bad writing” or “your handwriting sucks”.

D.Independent
Practice/Through—Students begin to come up and pick up a grade sheet and a
paper as instructed by their teacher.
Using the rubric, they begin peer-grading their classmates ATO’s. All students switch papers once so they each
grade two papers and each paper has two grades.

Closure—Students pass
in the papers and the teacher grades the ATO’s using the peer-grades. If the two grades are one away from each
other, the two numbers are added together and averaged. Ten points is added to the averaged number
and that’s the score the student receives on their ATO.

Day 3:

Objectives—

Cognitive:
After using the same graphic organizer they created earlier in the week;
students will write their two body paragraphs that state their views on their
topic. Cognitive: After completing these
statement, body paragraphs, and ATO, students will write a conclusion that
reiterates their points and neatly ends their persuasive essay.

Standards—

Writing Standards, 11-12 Grade, Text Types and
Purposes:

1. Write arguments to support claims in an
analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and
sufficient evidence.

b. Develop
claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most relevant
evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a
manner that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level, concerns, values, and
possible biases.

e.
Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the
norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.

f. Provide a concluding statement or section that
follows from and supports the argument presented.

Student
Activities—

Write the two body paragraphs for their essay. Students are asked to write a one or two
sentence intro that includes their thesis statement as well. Students are asked to write a conclusion
following set criteria. A power point
with tips for writing both an intro and conclusion is displayed to the
students. Students are asked to make
corrections to their ATO’s and type up a complete essay to turn in next class.

Assessment—

Formative:
progress monitoring by the teacher as they walk around while students
are working.

Lesson
Plan

Instructional strategies

A.Anticipatory
Set/Into—The teacher passes back the student’s peer-reviewed ATO’s from the
previous day. The teacher displays the
directions for the assignment on the whiteboard using a power point
presentation. Step 1: review the
comments left by the two reviewers. Step
2: On a new sheet of paper, write two goals based on the comments on the top of
the paper. Step 3: Using the same topic as the ATO, write a brief
2 sentence introduction plus a thesis statement. Step 4:
Write two body paragraphs from the graphic organizer from the previous
assignment. Step 5: write a conclusion
that answers the question “so what?”.
Step 6: Take home the essay and
type it up at home, check for spelling and grammatical errors.

B.Instruction/Through—The
teacher goes through all the directions and asks students if they have any
questions. They also instruct the
students if they have an issue with the score they received from their
peer-reviewers to see the teacher and they will grade it.

C.Guided
practice/Through—The teacher shows a few sample body paragraphs to show
students what is expected of them and what they are aiming for.

D.Independent
Practice/Through—Teacher instructs students to begin working on their
essays. They start with their brief
introduction, moving on to the two body paragraphs, and ending with the “so
what?” conclusion.

E.Closure—Teacher
instructs students to take home what they have on their essays and to finish
writing them at home. They are asked to
please type them up. They are due the
next class period.

Student Activities

A.Anticipatory
Set/Into—Students listen and follow along as the teacher passes back the
student’s peer-reviewed ATO’s from the previous day. The teacher displays the directions for the
assignment on the whiteboard using a power point presentation. Step 1: review the comments left by the two
reviewers. Step 2: On a new sheet of
paper, write two goals based on the comments on the top of the paper. Step 3:
Using the same topic as the ATO, write a brief 2 sentence introduction
plus a thesis statement. Step 4: Write two body paragraphs from the graphic
organizer from the previous assignment.
Step 5: write a conclusion that answers the question “so what?”. Step 6:
Take home the essay and type it up at home, check for spelling and
grammatical errors.

B.Instruction/Through—Students
listen and follow along as the teacher goes through all the directions and asks
students if they have any questions.
They also instruct the students if they have an issue with the score
they received from their peer-reviewers to see the teacher and they will grade
it.

C.Guided
practice/Through—Students observe the examples the teacher shows them and ask
any question they may have about the assignment.

D.Independent
Practice/Through—Students begin working on their essays. They start with their brief introduction,
moving on to the two body paragraphs, and ending with the “so what?”
conclusion.

E.Closure—Students
take home what they have on their essays and to finish writing them at
home. They are asked to please type them
up. They are due the next class period.

Day 5:

Objectives—

Cognitive: After writing their persuasive essay,
students will peer-review their classmates completed essays to provide a
concise understanding of others writing styles, techniques, and ideas.

Standards—

Writing Standards, 11-12 Grade, Production and Distribution
of Writing:

5.
Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing,
rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most
significant for a specific purpose and audience.

Student
Activities—

Students handed in their essays the previous
class. Each student was given a random
number to write instead of their name on their paper. Peer-review: students peer-review another
period’s papers using a set rubric. They
must list three reasons using the rubric to justify their score. 10 points are added to the averaged score
just for writing the essay.

Assessment—

Formative and Summative: progress monitoring while students are
peer-reviewing. Summative: grading based
on a rubric once students have turned in their work.

Lesson
Plan

Instructional strategies

A.Anticipatory
Set/Into—The teacher posts similar directions to the ones used during the
previous peer-review session. The same
grade sheets are also used. The grade
sheet is broken into quadrants. The top
left quadrant includes a space to fill out the period number of the author as
well as the author’s writing number on the left hand side. The top right quadrant includes a place for
the reviewer to fill in their own period number and writing number. The bottom left quadrant is where reviewers
write three points from the rubric that proves the score the reviewer’s
score. The bottom right quadrant is
where the reviewer writes a note to the author explaining what they have done
well and what they need to improve on.
Teacher instructs the students to pick up a grade sheet and a student’s
paper that is not theirs or a friend’s to grade. Step 1: Write the author's writing number and
reviewer’s writing number in the appropriate spaces. Step 2:
Read the paper, underline the thesis statement, underline the topic
sentence for each body paragraph, and check the ATO. Step 3: Using the rubric, score the
paper. Write three reasons using the
rubric why the paper received that score.
Step 4: Write a note to the
author explaining what they did well and what they need to work on. Step 5:
Stand up, wait for another student to stand-up, and switch papers with
them. Step 6: Repeat the process one
more time with the new paper.

B.Instruction/Through—The
teacher goes through all the directions with the students to insure they
understand the directions.

C.Guided
practice/Through—The teacher instructs the students to make sure that they are
polite when leaving comments and to not leave any comments such as “bad
writing” or “your handwriting sucks”.

D.Independent
Practice/Through—The teacher instructs students to come up and pick up a grade
sheet and a paper. Using the rubric,
they begin peer-grading their classmates essays. All students switch papers once so they each
grade two papers and each paper has two grades.

E.Closure—The
teacher collects the papers and records the grades using the same procedure as
before. If the two scores are one point
off or closer they are averaged. Ten
points is added to the averaged score for the total points earned by the essay.

F.Beyond—All
in-class essays from here on out will start with 45 minutes with the times
slowly whittled down to 25 minutes to prep students for the written portion of
the SAT test.

Student Activities

A.Anticipatory
Set/Into—Students listen and follow along as the teacher posts similar
directions to the ones used during the previous peer-review session. The same grade sheets are also used. The grade sheet is broken into
quadrants. The top left quadrant
includes a space to fill out the period number of the author as well as the
author’s writing number on the left hand side.
The top right quadrant includes a place for the reviewer to fill in
their own period number and writing number.
The bottom left quadrant is where reviewers write three points from the
rubric that proves the score the reviewer’s score. The bottom right quadrant is where the
reviewer writes a note to the author explaining what they have done well and
what they need to improve on. Teacher
instructs the students to pick up a grade sheet and a student’s paper that is
not theirs or a friend’s to grade. Step
1: Write the author's writing number and reviewer’s writing number in the
appropriate spaces. Step 2: Read the paper, underline the thesis
statement, underline the topic sentence for each body paragraph, and check the
ATO. Step 3: Using the rubric, score the
paper. Write three reasons using the
rubric why the paper received that score.
Step 4: Write a note to the
author explaining what they did well and what they need to work on. Step 5:
Stand up, wait for another student to stand-up, and switch papers with
them. Step 6: Repeat the process one
more time with the new paper.

B.Instruction/Through—Students
follow along as the teacher goes through all the directions with the students
to insure they understand the directions.

C.Guided
practice/Through—Students listen as the teacher instructs the students to make
sure that they are polite when leaving comments and to not leave any comments
such as “bad writing” or “your handwriting sucks”.

D.Independent
Practice/Through—Students begin working on peer-reviewing. Students to come up and pick up a grade sheet
and a paper. Using the rubric, they
begin peer-grading their classmates essays.
All students switch papers once so they each grade two papers and each
paper has two grades.

G.Closure—Students
hand in the papers so the teacher can record the grades using the same
procedure as before. If the two scores are
one point off or closer they are averaged.
Ten points is added to the averaged score for the total points earned by
the essay.

E.Beyond—All
in-class essays from here on out will start with 45 minutes with the times
slowly whittled down to 25 minutes to prep students for the written portion of
the SAT test.

Closure/Beyond

Students will use the techniques in this unit
throughout the school year. They will
continue to write persuasive essays on set topics. They will also be given a time limit to mimic
the SAT’s. At first they will be given
45-50 minutes to write an essay. Slowly,
the time will be whittled away until they are writing an essay in 25 minutes.

7.MATERIAL/RESOURCES

Power
point slides on next page.

Graphic
Organizer—Students make their own graphic organizers, however they are given
instructions on how to make them as demonstrated below.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Where and how does communication, discussion, and
collaboration occur?

Creativity occurs in my classroom through group projects and
individual projects. In group projects,
they complete them in class using materials they’ve brought in. One projects, students were asked to bring in
a song that they thought was transcendental with a paragraph explaining why. Students got into groups of 4 and selected
one song from their pool of 4. They then
create a poster depicting the song with a brief summary, transcendental
elements it represents, and a drawing the illustrates a main idea of the
song. Students also show their
creativity through individual work they do.
For example, they also create their own gothic poems that then
illustrate.

Critical thinking and problem solving occurs during group
discussions about readings that we are doing in class. Many of the books, poems, and articles that
the students read are read to them in class.
During pauses from the reading, students are asked questions about the
text to draw on their critical thinking skills and make inferences based on
what we’ve read.

The majority of the discussion happens inside the
classroom. Communication is not,
however, limited to the classroom.
Students also have Schoolloop which allows for teachers to post
homework, notes, announcements, and details about what went on during the class
for students and parents to access later.

P. 39

Where and how do you support and teach information
literacy?

Where and how do you teach media literacy?

Where and how do you use technology in your class for
students to research, organize, evaluate, and communicate information?

Students are taught
how to access the internet to find relevant sources of information. They are instructed how to look at a website
to tell if it is a valid source. One
website they are not allowed to use is Wikipedia. While Wikipedia is a valuable source of
information and is continually updated through free-source postings of users,
students are taught that there are other more accurate sources of information
at their disposal that provide what is considered to be a reliable.

My students activily
use Schoolloop to check their homework and other work for their classes. This is especially helpful for days they are
absent from school.

Students have a
research project that they do in 10th grade English. Part of the project is researching a
controversial topic, write an essay, and then presenting the information they gained
to a panel of three. Students use the
same techniques they learned the previous year to research background
information for books and poems that we read.
For example, before reading the Crucible, students researched selected
topics to further their understanding of the time period, politics of the era,
deeper meaning of the play, and author information.

P. 40 How do you teach students to work independently and
provide opportunities for tem to be self-directed learners?

Students are given
many opportunities to work independently of each other. One such assignment is the independent
reading assignment. Each student picks a
book on their own, reads it, and completes a project on their own that they
then presents in front of the class.

p. 41 How do you provide students with opportunities to
interact with others, work effectively in diverse teams, manage projects, and
produce results?

Students are given opportunities to work in groups during
group assignments and discussions.
Before students began reading The Crucible, they researched in groups
background information that they then presented in front of the class. The students that weren’t presenting took
notes. The information that the students
offered was tested on during the Unit test.

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About Me

I am in the process of becoming an English teacher at CSUSM. I enjoy reading, writing, and cooking. Cooking is how I de-stress! I also play a few video games and love reading historical fiction, science fiction, and fiction in general.